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Chapter 2: Controlling and Configuring the Viewports

Controlling Viewports with a Scroll Wheel Mouse

Now that I’ve explained the viewport navigation gizmos, I’ll explain another easy way to control the view-
ports. Often, the quickest way to control the viewports is with the mouse. To really get the benefit of the
mouse, you need to use a mouse with a scroll wheel (which also acts as a middle mouse button).
Rolling the scroll wheel in the active viewport zooms in to and out of the viewport by steps just like the
bracket keys ([ and ]). You can zoom precisely by holding down the Ctrl and Alt keys while dragging the
scroll wheel.
Clicking and dragging the scroll wheel button pans the active viewport. Clicking and dragging with the Alt
button held down rotates the active viewport. If the scroll wheel isn’t working, check the Viewports panel
in the Preference Settings dialog box. You can select to use the scroll wheel control to pan and zoom in the
viewports or to define and use Strokes.

Caution
Be careful when zooming in with the scroll wheel. If you zoom in too far, the internal field of width approaches
its minimum value and zooming becomes unstable. If this happens, you can select the Views ➪ Undo View Change
(Shift+Z) menu command to undo the zoom or use the Zoom Extents button. n

Cross-Ref
Strokes are covered in Chapter 4, “Customizing the Max Interface and Setting Preferences.” n

Using the Viewport Navigation Controls

Although the ViewCube, the SteeringWheels, and the scroll wheel make navigating the viewports easy, you
can still use the standard navigation tools located in the bottom-right corner of the interface. The standard
viewports show you several different views of your current project, but within each viewport you can zoom
in on certain objects, pan the view, or rotate about the center of the viewport. To zoom, pan, and rotate the
default views, you can use the Viewport Navigation Control buttons. Clicking a viewport with any of the
Viewport Navigation Controls automatically makes the selected viewport the active viewport. In Table 2.1,
the keyboard shortcut for each button is listed in parentheses next to its name.

TABLE 2.1
Viewport Navigation Controls

Toolbar Button Name Description
Zoom (Alt+Z or [ or ]) Moves closer to or farther from the objects in the active
viewport by dragging the mouse or zooming by steps with the
bracket keys.
Zoom All Zooms in to or out of all the viewports simultaneously by
dragging the mouse.
(continued)

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